Supergirl Jaroonsakgym won her last fight but she didn’t impress anyone. The split decision victory over Ekaterina Vandaryeva was so contentious that an immediate rematch was ordered.
She has had to wait almost exactly a year to the day for her shot at redemption but the 17 year old wants to set the record straight. Supergirl says she was not prepared for the online criticism which came her way after that performance,
“What got me down the most was ‘trash’ comments. Most of the comments from foreigners were okay. But from Thai people, some comments were harsh and hurt me. I’d never felt in such a situation. I couldn’t handle those criticisms.”
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Learning experience
While fans might feel that professional fighters are so tough they should be immune from criticism that clearly isn’t the case. The teenager admits she didn’t even want to turn on her phone because she was worried about reading negative comments,
“I was crying like a baby. I couldn’t even watch the match. I shut myself in the room and told my sister to turn off my phone because I didn’t want to accidentally read comments on social media anymore. That made me understand why movie stars or artists get depressed from ‘trash’ comments.”
Ultimately she thinks that it was a valuable learning experience. Supergirl thinks it has made her mentally stronger moving forwards,
“I try to understand everything and keep my chin up (because) I know we can’t control what people say, and it doesn’t bother me anymore. Anyway, it is the greatest lesson I have learned in my life. I’ve learned to select only constructive comments to improve myself more and ignore those toxic ones.”
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Home town
Suffice to say the teenager is not looking to win with a contentious split decision this time around. The fight is taking place in Bangkok on Saturday morning so she is fighting in her home town at ONE Fight Night 6.
There is no animosity between her and Vandaryeva but she is determined to leave no room for question marks or criticism,
“What hurts me from the last fight was not the opponent. I don’t have any problem with Barbie. I want the result to be crystal clear this time so there won’t be any room for arguments. It doesn’t matter if I win or lose, but it must be clear-cut.”
She has enlisted the help of newly crowned ONE Championship bantamweight kickboxing champion Petchtanong Petchfergus. According to Supergirl he has brought a lot of new knowledge to the table in terms of strength and conditioning,
“I have Petchtanong to help me in designing my training program for the upcoming fight. I regard him as my big bro. He taught me many things like weight training, how to exercise, and diet, which was what I was missing before.”
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More determined
Before the kickboxing veteran got involved Supergirl says her methods were very primitive. She might have known how to throw kicks, punches, knees and elbows but didn’t understand the importance of nutrition,
“Thanks to Petchtanong, I now know how important it is to take care of your body. Before, I didn’t know why you had to eat whey protein. When I finished training, I often felt muscle aches and couldn’t use my brain effectively because my body was exhausted. But now my body (is) stronger.”
Petchtanong’s intervention has made her more determined while the experience she went through a year ago has made Supergirl mentally stronger. As a result the teenager believes fans will see her at her very best on Saturday,
“This is the strongest version of me ever (and) I am so determined to put on a show.”
